“Some teams haven’t played any opposition of that ilk. So our situation, if you want to call it that, is one we feel we very much have the ability to turn around, because we’ll have games against teams that we think we can go up against.

“One of those was Bournemouth, but they finished above us last year as well. I don’t think there’s any team we’ve played up to this point that we finished above last year, apart from Newcastle, who came up, and Newcastle away is historically a difficult fixture.

“So that tells you where we are in terms of the strength of opposition. But put that to one side, you just need to make sure that you win football matches, and that’s our intention. We’re a good side, when we play well.

“Last weekend, we didn’t get a performance. We conceded two quickfire goals within a quarter of an hour and in the Premier League, it’s very difficult to come back from a two-goal deficit, as everybody knows.

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“We nearly made it. We got one back, and had chances to get back on level terms. I think if we had done, we could very well have gone on and won the game. You just need a little bit of luck, and those things to go for you.

“On the day, they didn’t. But I don’t think that in the space of seven days, between the Man City and Bournemouth games, that everything that we’ve done is poor.

“Prior to the Man City game, it was quite positive. After two games, [there’s a perception that] everything’s changed. Nothing’s changed. We’re still working hard to make sure that we’re competitive, which we are, and we’ll be fine.

"After seven games it was one of the best starts we've made in the Premier League, I think that Stoke have made in the Premier League, so we weren't doing too badly before the last two games.